


Balance of Blood

by latrunkster



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/F, Lesbian Vampires, Order 66 (Star Wars), Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:00:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27754231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/latrunkster/pseuds/latrunkster
Summary: The meeting between Ahsoka and Bo-Katan on Coruscant is interrupted by a millenia-old force-wielding vampire named Nyx, whose instincts find a mate in Ahsoka Tano. Nyx tags along on their trip to save Mandalore from Maul, and thereforth the story of Star Wars diverges into a new realm of darkness and uncertainty.Clone Wars/Revenge of the Sith AU with a unique vampire physiology and an eventual lesbian polyamorous relationship.
Relationships: Ahsoka Tano/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 14





	1. A Void in the Force

"Trace?"

A female voice interrupted my feeding, and I growled in frustration. I ripped my face away from the mechanic's neck, preparing to compel the intruder into going away.

But then I sensed her—a hot, burning energy attached to her, one that sang with mine, and the primal, meaty scent perfect to be mine. _**Mine!**_

I was already racing to her as she turned the corner—and I tackled her. I felt surprise, determination, and fear flash through her as I grappled with her. My inner beast forced me to be dominant, claiming—I pinned her to the floor despite her struggle, and my still unsheathed canines clamped down into her neck. She didn't stop struggling even as the euphoric hormones from my teeth seeped into her bloodstream—she must have had a great force of will.

I pulled back as I hadn't been on her neck to feed but to claim. Instead of licking her wound to heal like I usually did, I left it open so that it would scar and so my mark would be on her.

It was when I took in her visage of orange skin, white tattoos, and striped horns and looked into her eyes that it all came back to me, and my bestial instincts receded.

I had a _mate._ A _mate._ I had never believed—it'd been so long, and I'd given up hope of ever finding one. And now here she was beneath me.

And she shoved me off her; I stood up and stumbled back. My instincts took hold again and told me to stand still and nonthreateningly, so as to not put undue fear into my mate. Dominance was one thing, but after my claiming bite it was all I was left to do to try to please and placate my mate, who would no doubt have many questions.

She sprung on me again, kicking me square in the chest, and I let her work out her stress and anger. I crashed into the wall, and sat down against it. The mechanic, Trace, was still under my spell, and she sat down next to me and leaned on me.

"What _are_ you? What did you do to Trace, to me?" my mate asked me; her aura was colored with confusion and abhorrence.

I pulled back my trance from Trace, who recoiled away from me and ran to stand behind my mate. There was an old word for what I was, but seeing as I was probably the last of my kind my mate wouldn't understand it. "It's not my choice," I spoke for the first time, looking down in shame, "I need blood to survive. I'm sorry."

"What's taking you so long?" a new voice approached, nearing the entrance to our room. "Our friends are getting impatient!" The speaker when she appeared froze at the scene, and she asked, "Who's the skank?" I gave the human female a measuring look: she wore a fur coat, half of her head was shaved, and her complexion matched that of Trace. A sister.

"I don't have time for this," my mate said, frustrated. Looking back at me with a stern expression she said, "Witch, can you just leave and not come back?"

A part of my heart broke, but I steeled myself. "What? You're one to call me a witch, force-wielder. And no! I have to go with you. Wherever you go, I go."

My mate shot back her own measuring look. "What? Why?"

"I just have to." I knew my inner beast wouldn't let me let my mate go, so soon after meeting her.

"You'll have to give me better than that," she shot back, obviously wanting to move on to wherever she was going.

"I..." I swallowed. I had to be careful with the truth. "I've bonded with you. It's a biological imperative of my species. I literally _can't_ let you go alone. And whatever you're doing, I can help. I'm very experienced." More than fifty thousand years of experience in fact, but not everyone here needed to know that.

My mate grimaced and asked, "You have experience fighting wars and hunting down Sith?"

 _Of_ course my mate would be such a warrior, a Jedi by the sound of it. That's what they were calling themselves these days. I stood up from the wall and looked at her evenly, eyebrow raised. "I took you down just now, didn't I?"

My mate grimaced again. "And how could I trust you?"

"She can come," yet another woman interrupted and entered the room. _Uggh, women._ _Myself included._ This one bore a rigid, weathered expression, and she was donned in a suit of Mandalorian armor. I guessed these were the 'friends' Trace's sister had referred to. "Nobody knew we were coming here, so she can't be an infiltrator. What's your name?"

I did have a name, but I hadn't used it in so long, and I was such a different person then, that I made something up. "Nyx," I answered, using the old legends of my people.

The warrior "Well either of you can come with us, or stay. We're leaving now, with or without you."

Well, that decided it then. And so within the span of ten minutes, my life had changed forever.

.

.

.

The Mandalorian, whose named I learned was Bo-Katan, absconded us to what would be our cabin for the duration of the journey to wherever, while she and her crew got the ship started. She promised to return for us once we were in hyperspace.

Our 'cabin' was more like a closet or prison cell, with a two bunk beds in the wall and only a half-metre of space between the beds and the opposite wall. We would have to squeeze by or crawl through the bed space to get around each other. I took the top bunk while Ahsoka took the bottom.

"So, what's your name, Jedi?" I asked my mate, trying to learn more about her.

"I'm not a Jedi. And it's Ahsoka Tano." My mate—Ahsoka—her mind was clouded, churning with feelings and thoughts, and I wanted to help her with it.

"Oooh, it's nice to meet you Ahsoka. I bet you _used to be_ a Jedi though. I tried it once too, didn't work out." That had been a pity-case a few thousand years ago, when a Jedi found me and tried bringing me into the order. It had been a pity-case doomed from the start.

"Nyx, you used to be a Jedi too?!" Surprise flashed through her mind, and I sensed in her an emergent sense of kinship.

"Yep. Some knight got scared of me and tried to kill me. I defended myself, and the council took his side. Then I left." Most force-users Jedi or Sith got scared of me, because of a unique ability innate to myself. It was a passive ability (I couldn't turn it off), and I hadn't been aware of it until it happened: force-users, upon approaching me, suddenly became cut-off from the force. It was like I was a black hole, and by getting too close to me their connection to the force was sucked into a void, until they left my presence. I was surprised Ahsoka hadn't felt it. "You don't sense the power in me? Can you still feel the force? Here, float this for me." I took out a spare credit chip and floated it down to her.

"My force... it feels normal. I sense you like I would anyone else..." she answered as she floated it back up to me.

"Huh. That's odd."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well," I gulped, "I have this ability that affects other force-users I met. When they get too close to me, their connection to the force is cut off until they went away. It's why the Jedi were scared of me. Sith too. It probably doesn't happen to you because of the bond."

"What is that bond? How—why—what does it mean?"

There was so much to it. The mating rituals of my people—they were very complex. It wasn't just 'fall in love, have sex, turn her, and live together forever'. The mating ritual involved staged sharing of blood, and it would induce transformations in both of us. The first time, she would share her blood with me, feeding me. The second time, she would just become a member of my kind. The third time—our blood, DNA, powers and connections would merge—our appearances would change to be identical, and our minds become one. There would have to be so much mental and physical preparation for it—and Ahsoka was an alien, and we were both force-users, so how would it work? What would change? I had only observed the ritual myself once, tens of thousands of years ago, and that was between two human-based members of my kind. Not to mention all of the emotions involved. It wasn't something we could just jump into.

"Nyx? You with me?"

"Yeah, sorry." Under the covers of the bed I found a bouncy ball, and I started bouncing it off the wall repeatedly. Bounce. "There's a lot to it. Basically, my instinct has identified you as my one and only mate, and refuses to let me leave your side, or to see you get hurt. But that's not important now. What Sith are we going after this time?" Bounce.

"This time? You've—" she cut herself off, and then sat in silence for a moment. Bounce. I sensed her feeling shift from surprise, to angered vehemence. "Maul. He's a Zabrak with a grudge against Jedi. He's cybernetic from the waist down. And now he's apparently done something to spite the Mandalorians. An evil, deranged man."

"Doesn't sound too bad." Bounce.

"What—you don't even have a lightsabre!"

I grinned. Bounce. "Neither do you. But one time on Dromund-Kaas, I forced three Sith to disembowel themselves with their own lightsabres."

That made her shut up. Confusion and curiosity raged inside her.

Bounce. "Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you something else important. I'm around fifty-thousand years old. I was around before the Jedi and Sith existed. I grew up on Coruscant, and I remember when the planet was covered in dense forests, vast oceans, real ecosystems." Bounce. "I wasn't kidding when I said I was experienced. I have many powers that make me, well, powerful. I've killed Jedi, Sith, criminals. Not that I wanted to. I usually keep to myself, hiding in the Coruscanti underworld, feeding when I needed to. I don't have to kill to feed, by the way. But that's enough about me. Why are you no longer a Jedi? How did these Mandalorians catch wind of you? If... you're comfortable sharing."

"Wow, but... well, it's public information anyways. I was framed for a crime, the council sold me out to the chancellor, I was exonerated, and then they wouldn't take responsibility for their mistake. So I left. But just because you're here with me doesn't mean I trust you."

"I tell you my greatest secret, that which no one else knows, that which could make me an enemy of Jedi and Sith alike, and you still don't trust me?"

I sensed Ahsoka about to retort, as the presence of Bo-Katan approached the door and opened it.

"How do I—" Ahsoka started.

But Bo-Katan interrupted, commanding, "Briefing, let's go."

.

.

.

"Well, he's a proper bastard, a curious one too," I commented into the air as Ahsoka and I returned to our cabin after the briefing.

"Curious?" Ahsoka asked for clarification.

"Well Bo-Katan said he had control over all those crime organizations. So he wanted to be hidden, in the background, in the underworld. Low-profile. But taking over Mandalore and inciting this revolution as it were, it's a bit high-profile isn't it? Why is he doing it now? Why not establish more control over other crime lords? He's either overconfident, trying to get someone's attention, stupid, or he knows something, or all of the above."

Ahsoka was silent. But in her mind she was still thinking hard, feelings raging through her. I had hoped to calm her, center her, but right now we were like this.

.

.

.

After a night of sleep (for Ahsoka at least) and a simple ration breakfast (which did not nourish me), Ahsoka sought out Bo-Katan, obviously having something to say, and I followed her.

"Bo, I have an idea. We can reach out to the Republic, to the Jedi for help. I know them, and they know me; Maul is their enemy as much as he is ours."

"Their war is peaking day by day. It's reaching a breaking point. Do you really think the Jedi would spare themselves the time for us, especially ones powerful enough to defeat Maul, on a neutral planet no less, and in doing so trust the word of a former Jedi?"

It was then that I entered the meeting room and interrupted: "Why do we need any help at all? Why not just have Ahsoka and I sneak into Sundari and take him out quietly, and then you can reclaim control as per the ways of your people? And what do these Jedi have that we don't?"

"Their armies could help us flush Maul out. Even if you succeeded alone, which you probably wouldn't, then Saxon or Kast would take control, and my people would still be under their boots."

 _As if you wouldn't put them under yours?_ I looked to Ahsoka. She was the reason I was hereâ€”I didn't care for the politics either way. If she wanted Bo-Katan in power, then I'd help her do that. If she wanted to become Empress of her own empire—I'd tried to convince her not to, as it would be a stupid idea, but I'd follow her.

"It can't hurt to ask. And even if they don't help with their armies, they might still give me a lightsabre so I could fight Maul."

I didn't think we would really need lightsabres to defeat him, but I deferred to my mate. If I went to this Sith myself, his shock of losing his connection to the force would probably stun him enough to where I could influence his mind and have him kill himself. I wouldn't even have to touch him.

"It can't hurt to ask," I agreed out loud, "But I wonder if bringing an army to Mandalore would cause more loss of life than necessary."

"I still know the frequencies Jedi communications use, I can use them to make contact. I just need a terminal and a comm buoy," Ahsoka said. Bo-Katan smiled and pointed to one built in the wall of the room. Oh yes, she wanted an army, even if she was hesitant to believe it would be possible to get one. It concerned me that my mate too was being so cavalier about this.

Resigned to the situation, I leaned against the wall in the back of the room, waiting for Ahsoka to finish her call to her friends. They set up a rendezvous point to discuss the situation in person, and then Bo-Katan went to the cockpit to direct us to our new destination. I retreated into our cabin, waiting there for my mate to return to me. I needed to talk to her privately again.

.

.

.

I wasn't bouncing the ball any more. The possible escalation of this into a war had really sobered me up. I was sitting on the edge of my bunk, thinking, when Ahsoka entered the cabin.

"Are you sure about this?" was the first thing I said.

"What do you mean, about what?" Ahsoka looked up at me, a strange glare in her eye.

I scoffed. "For a former Jedi, you're not acting like a Jedi at all. When the going got rough, the first thing you did was call in the help of an army, risking inciting yet another war focused on Mandalore, which could lead to even more carnage and agony. All because of a grudge over one man. If only the Jedi are involved, or they just give you lightsabres, then sure. But otherwise you sound like a warlord calling in an army to help you casually launch an invasion. You didn't look too much into any alternatives. You haven't considered what could happen to Mandalore after such an invasion, and you don't know what Bo-Katan's true vision is."

Ahsoka's mouth was agape, and then she closed it and her mouth at the same time. I couldn't identify the expression, but I sensed frustration and an ounce of shame radiating off her.

"One of my powers is to read people's surface thoughts. On Coruscant, those two women, Trace and her sister, were thinking about how you were how they wanted the Jedi to be. But I think you're betraying them now."

"You're right..." It was only shame radiating off her now. I didn't like to stress my mate so, but she needed it. "I'm too used to war. But Maul... what else can we do?"

"I'm confident I could defeat him myself. Remember, I have the ability to cut him off from the force. I would have a huge advantage. I would just need to get him alone. Take out his officers too, and then Bo-Katan could assume power, if you think that's best," I answered.

"Assassination..." I felt fear pour from her then. Fear of what? Of turning evil herself?

"Is better than a battle of armies, especially in the context of Mandalorian culture," I answered her unspoken question. "So what do you think?"

"Why don't we capture him?"

"If he's as senile as you said, death would be a better end for him. Why do you hesitate to kill him, when just before you were willing to have countless others killed for the same ends?"

Ahsoka quieted then, sitting on the edge of her bunk too. I dropped down to the floor and sat down next to her. I took her hand, squeezed it, and let it go. "Okay..." Ahsoka whispered with such low volume that only my enhanced hearing allowed to me to hear it.

Then I felt Bo-Katan moving around in the ship, coming toward our cabin. Several of her soldiers followed her—what now?

The door to cabin opened, and the Mandalorian gave me an intense measuring once-over. I brushed my mind with hers, and that was when I realized that she had heard everything we had ever said in this cabin. We had been bugged. _Blast it_.

.

.

.

Things actually turned out better than I thought they would. Bo-Katan offered a new deal for us: we would use my power to help her defeat Maul and claim rule as per the old ways, and in exchange she wouldn't leak any of the information she overheard from our cabin.

"And a ship, so we can leave after it's all over," I had added and she agreed.

And so our rendezvous with the Republic was canceled, and with some of Bo-Katan's old Death Watch codes we managed to land in the docks of Sundari.

Bo-Katan laid out our plan. "Okay, our goal is to get to the palace, that is where Maul will be. If anyone gets in our way, we tell them we are seeing to an honor duel, and you two can use your mind tricks. If they still don't let us pass, then we blast our way through. Let me issue the challenge and have him accept it before you approach and unleash your power on him. He won't be able to match me without his sorcery."

"And if Maul refuses your duel?"

"Then he would be forfeiting, and his followers would consider me the victor. The challenger always wins by default," she answered.

Our party consisted of only Bo-Katan, two of her soldiers, me, and Ahsoka. At the docks we commandeered a platform speeder to let us travel to the palace. As we approached it, the Mandalorians in our party ducked down so as to not be seen by the palace guards.

"You _will_ let us pass, we have to see to an honor duel," Ahsoka said with a wave of the hand at the guards who ended up pointing their blasters at us.

"Hands up, sorceress! Your tricks don't work on us!" Well, I had given my mate a shot. She isn't powerful enough yet. So I dug into their minds myself, without even speaking or waving my hand. "We will let you pass," they then said. "You have to see to an honor duel."

Ahsoka looked at me with wide eyes. I smirked and shrugged.

Bo-Katan and her two soldiers entered the palace, while Ahsoka and I waited outside. With my enhanced hearing I would know when Bo-Katan needed us.

I could sense Maul inside. He was radiating whiplashing flashes of anger, frustration, hate, dread. He really was senile. I knew he wouldn't be able to sense Ahsoka or myself—that was always a part of my power. Anyone within my sphere of 'force deprivation' couldn't be sensed by others—present company excluded.

When I heard Maul accept the duel with smug confidence, calling Bo-Katan a 'fool', I walked closer to the palace and leaned against the doorframe, within range of Maul. I felt the confusion, pain, and anger in him boil up as he passed into my void. With him in a panicked state, I brushed his mind to make him less confident, while also brushing Bo-Katan's mind to make her more confident. I also started to sway the soldiers' minds so that they would be more accepting of their new leader.

Between his lack of the force (which really had been the only thing keeping him together), my mind's influence, and Bo-Katan's own skills, his time was at and end. He died screaming, and the soldiers in the room knelt to Bo-Katan on one knee. Ahsoka watched the whole thing from the doorway, while I was content just hearing and feeling it.


	2. A Coruscanti Reckoning

"I hope you know, that while I want Mandalore to be strong, my reason is that I want it to be able to protect itself from all this war surrounding us. Not attack. You don't need to fear another Mandalorian Crusade," were Bo-Katan's parting words and she handed us the proverbial keys to our new ship. I sensed her to be genuine, more genuine than my first impression had been.

The ship was the same model as the one that brought us to Mandalore: two large wings (which pivoted upward in its docking position) were attached to either side of a bulb that extended forward in a spear-shape. Very Mandalorian.

"You do an inventory, while I find a scanner and sweep for bugs," I told Ahsoka when we got on-board. Once we were done, we met in the central meeting room to talk.

"This ship has a class-1 hyperdrive, targeting computer, forward and rear cannons, four engines, the docking room, four crew cabins, a captain's cabin, this meeting room, the cockpit, and various storage closets," Ahsoka read off the results of her inventory.

"The Mandalorians don't spare expense in their ships. I didn't find any bugs, so we're safe to talk about anything. As I don't have to sleep, you can have the captain's quarters. Did you want to contact your Jedi friends and tell them about Maul?"

Ahsoka hummed in agreement, and went over to the comm terminal to start establishing the connection. "Thank you," she said as we waited.

"For what?"

"For everything. If it weren't for you, I may have started another war." She looked down and shook her head self-depreciatingly. I took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Do you want to be on the call? If so, how should I introduce you?"

"Introduce me as a former Jedi like yourself, if you want. Don't mention my age though."

It was then that the holocall was accepted on the other end, and the visage of a dark-haired dark-robed man appeared

"Ahsoka, am I glad to hear you. So much has happened. The separatists attacked Coruscant and kidnapped the Chancellor, but we rescued him. Dooku is dead, and I've been appointed to the council, but not made a master. It's absurd!" The Jedi's mouth was running a klik a minute, emotions obviously flashing through him hotly. Had the Jedi's teachings changed since I last interacted with them? Ahsoka was calmer than this man, and she wasn't even a Jedi anymore. And how did these Jedi know each other?

Observing my mate closely, her heartbeat slightly increased in pace, and several emotions clashed on her face. Shock, elation, sympathy, disappointment, annoyance. "Anakin. I hope this means the war will soon come to an end. Maul is dead and Bo-Katan has assumed power. Nyx here," she turned to me, "She's a former Jedi too, and she helped us defeat him."

"That's wonderful Ahsoka. I think... you are where you were meant to be. But I wish you were here too. There's so much... so much happening, so much at risk. The council doesn't trust me. I don't know where to go."

Ahsoka was pensively silent, before saying, "I don't trust the council either. But don't let your emotions control you. There is no emotion, there is peace."

"I'm... trying, Ahsoka. What will you do now? Do you need a ship? What will you be doing? Are you okay?"

Ahsoka looked to me; she and I had lots to talk about. "I have a ship. Nyx and I need to decide where to go. Is there anything else, Anakin?"

"No, Ahsoka. May the force be with you. Stay safe."

"Take care of PadmÃ©. Goodbye." Ahsoka pressed a button, and the call cut out.

My mate gave out a long sigh. She walked over to a bench lining one of the walls of the meeting room and sat down. She covered her face with her hands and leaned down on her arms, elbows on her knees. The same feelings from before—shock, elation, sympathy, disappointment, annoyance—flamed through her. She had much emotion, and not so much peace.

I reckoned that emotions themselves were not terrible things—indeed they could be excellent. _But we should not let poor emotions control us_.

I sat down next to my mate, just looking at her.

Then she leaned back and let her arms down, sighing again. She turned her head to look at me, but after making eye contact she deflected her eyes, staring off to nowhere. Her eyes glazed over. "We need rations," she said out of the blue, and stood up and marched off to the boarding ramp. She had said we needed to talk, so I guessed this was a way of distracting herself.

She could delay it all she wanted—her pace, her comfort level. But I was definitely going to follow her. I stole myself behind her, slipping through the airlock as it closed. She didn't say anything as I strode up beside her. Bo-Katan and the honor guard that had escorted us to the ship were gone; but we were still free to venture into Sundari and get the supplies we needed.

"How many credits do you have?" she asked me as we made our way to the markets.

"About three hundred. You?"

"Sixty. Do I want to know...?"

"Probably not. What are we looking for?" At this point we reached the market: a sheltered outdoor area with stalls built into the walls of the buildings surrounding us. Above each was a utilitarian sign labeling the type of each shop. It was all rather clean and sterile.

"I need meats," she answered. "And you need..." she stopped where she stood, and looked at me. "...How often do you...?" Her expression showed she was entirely uncomfortable with the issue.

"Once per week abouts," I answered back. "I doubt a medical store would have it. Medics don't use bagged blood anymore."

"Is there... does the blood's species matter?"

"Humanoid species are better. Otherwise I'd have to feed more often. I could just go find someone."

Ahsoka's expression hardened. "No. You won't be hurting anyone."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and my mind snowballed into panic. Did my mate want me to starve? Did the blood repulse her—would she never do the mating rituals with me? I felt my heart clench at the implication that my mate could be rejecting me so. "Then how will feed?" I started to feel tears welling up in my eyes.

Ahsoka's expression softened, and she stared off in thought. "Coruscant would have bagged blood. Coruscant has everything," she said after a while. "Could you hold off until then?"

I was already at the point where my throat had a persistent itch in it. "I had last fed four days ago. If we leave soon we could get back there in four days. It would be a stretch and I may become ill, but I could do it." I would have to hope that nothing interrupted our travel there.

"Okay, we'll do that. Let's go," Ahsoka agreed. That she was still willing to stay with me at least, it gave me a little bit of hope.

We made our way to a butcher's shop, and I insisted on paying for the rations. I carried the crate above my head as we made our way back to our ship. Ahsoka suggested carrying it with the force, but I didn't want to rely on it. And a small part of me wanted to impress her with my strength. Putting it in one of the stowage holds, Ahsoka went about organizing it and freezing it. Then she did a full check of all the ships essential systems: propulsion, navigation, shielding, weapons, utilities. Then she piloted us off away from Sundari and into hyperspace, on our way to Coruscant. Then she used the refresher, taking a full shower. Then she prepared and ate one of her rations. She had implied through her body language that we needed to talk, but at this point a part of me felt that she was avoiding the hard topic.

"Have you worked on a ship like this before?" she asked as she started cleaning the utensils from her meal.

"I got around in my fifty-thousand years, even if I don't really like flying. I can manage. Why?"

She yawned, but tried to hold it back. "I was going to rest, if you'd be fine watching over the ship on your own."

"Alright, I'll be okay. I'll wake you if anything changes." I didn't like it, but my mate's needs still came first.

She nodded, and then made her way to the captain's quarters and made ready for sleep. I did nothing but observe her, through my hearing and my force powers. All of her emotions that had been raging inside her earlier were still there. I heard her control her breathing for about an hour before she finally fell asleep.

What exactly had she been thinking about? About me, and our partnership? About her Jedi friends back in Coruscant? About her own future? About my bloodful lifestyle?

.

.

.

Eight hours later, after waking up, having a morning meal, and doing another round of check-ups of all the ship's systems, she finally relaxed for a moment, resigning herself to the inevitability. We were in the cockpit at the time, and she sighed, leaning back into the pilot's chair. I sat in the copilot's chair, and we both watched hyperspace streaming around us outside.

"So, Nyx... you said I'm your mate?"

"...Y-yes," I stammered, nervous and afraid.

"And how do you know this?" Her tone was a bit clinical, which I could suppose was a way for her contain her own emotions.

"I... I have enhanced senses. I knew it the first time I smelled you, back on Coruscant. It's just how my species works. It's why I had bit you instinctively."

"Does that mean you've been alone for fifty thousand years?"

"...Yes."

She turned in her chair to face me, and said with a smile, "And I thought the Jedi were celibate."

I genuinely giggled at that.

"So... what exactly does mating for your species entail? Beyond the obvious?"

I bit my lip as I felt the levity from her joke wash away, and my nervousness and fear reappeared. If she had been repulsed by my idea of feeding back in Sundari, would the idea of blood rituals repulse her too? Or had it just been the potential act of attacking someone that she disliked? What would I do if she refused to even try to become closer to me? I couldn't just leave her behind—would she try to escape me? Leave me behind on Coruscant? What if—

"Woah, Nyx. Calm down," she interrupted my thoughts. She had obviously felt my turmoil. She reached across to me, putting her hand on my shoulder. "I'm only asking. I'm not going to yell at you. We'll start small—what's the first step?"

"It's... uh... for you to become affectionate and caring enough to willingly feed your blood to me." I gulped.

"Oh..." she took a deep breath. "Nyx, I... I don't know how much you know about the Jedi, what they taught me. But they had strict bans on romantic attachments. They taught us that it would lead us to the dark side. Which I could guess you would disagree with..."

I gulped again, and I felt as if my body was simultaneously frozen and trembling.

"I'm not a Jedi, not anymore, but... I've spent all my life suppressing such feelings. I don't know Nyx. I can try, but I don't know."

I needed that chance, I'd beg for it. Perhaps it was melodramatic, but my instincts wouldn't let me not do it. I slid down off my chair, to kneel before her on both of my knees. I did beg for it: I pleaded, "Please Ahsoka, just give me a chance. Any kind of chance, in any pace or depth. I _need_ it, or I'll..." I couldn't enunciate the alternative, but the thoughts alone made tears spring my eyes, and all of me scrunched up in sobbing. All of a sudden it felt difficult to breath, even though I didn't need to.

Then I felt myself being lifted, and my mate's scent enveloped me. She was hugging me, cooing soothing sounds into my ear. "You'll have it," she whispered. I hugged her back, and I was holding on for dear life.

.

.

.

Two nights later, it was 'morning' for Ahsoka again, as she woke up and eventually joined me in the cockpit. I was already in the co-pilot's chair, having spent the 'night' watching over the ship as I usually did.

But this time, I wasn't feeling so good.

My arms and legs were numb with pins-and-needles feelings all over them. It was as if I had hit my funny bone, but now it was all over my body, and it wasn't going away. It all felt numb and weak. My throat was burning. I had felt all this before, and I knew well what it meant.

"Akh-Ahsok-ka?" I croaked out, the pain and dryness in my throat making my voice hoarse.

My mate swiveled in her pilot's chair, looking at me. At my glazed-over, absent expression she got up and stood behind my chair, putting her hands on my shoulders. "Nyx? What's wrong?"

"T-too... thirst-ty..."

"How much time do you have? We should be arriving on Coruscant within twelve standard hours."

"I d-don't know..." I hadn't ever been this weak before. I had previously always been so vigilant in taining my health and controlling my thirst. But this time I had held that back, sacrificing my health for the honor of acquiescing to my mate's will, at least this time.

But what if something went wrong? What if there were a traffic jam, or she couldn't find blood for me? Any extra delay would ruin me. It didn't escape me that she had her own blood which she could potentially share with me, to save me. Why hadn't she thought of that herself? Did she place higher import on her values than on my own life? Did she think I wasn't good enough? Or was it that I had told her what it would mean to me, sharing her blood with me—if I hadn't told her about that, would she have no qualms about sharing it with me? Would she rather see me die than become attached to me?

I would be crying and sobbing if my eyes weren't dry and if my face hadn't become numb too now.

At some point the blue of hyperspace changed to black and then a whole bunch of other colors. Had we arrived? Or was something else happening? I couldn't see clearly. I heard my mate talking, but I couldn't make out the words. I was dying, and I didn't know what was happening.

And if my mate didn't want to save me, then perhaps I was better off dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been sitting on this chapter for a while because I didn't have the energy to continue the story past this chapter, but I figured I may come back to write more of this whenever I feel like writing vampires without being restricted to some typical Twilight-esque vampire universe :)
> 
> If you want more, let me know, and that will encourage me to write more!

**Author's Note:**

> I only have one more chapter ready for this work, and I have lots of other works I'm working on, so if you want more of this, leave comments to encourage me! :)


End file.
